The Child of Fortune
Envy and the Constitution of the Social Space
Emanuele Antonelli
Universita ` di Torino, Italy
In this paper, we will sketch out a simple scheme to evaluate different ways in
which Western society has coped with the momentous and hidden problem of
envy; afterward, we will consider the consequences for the constitution of the
social space that these changes entail. We will argue that envy, when considered
as a primal feeling, can shed light on René Girard’s notion of metaphysical desire
and on diasparagmos rituals. Then, taking into account Jean-Pierre Dupuy’s
endogenous fixed point thesis— concerning the constitution of autotranscendent
social structures that configure themselves around an attractor, a fixed point,
revealed to be a product of the process of constitution, an effect and not a
cause—we will consider envy as the main feedback in the system. Starting from
this theoretical scenario, we will envisage three steps— on a line sketched
according to mimetic theory—marked by the particular conditions and role of
the feedback. We will show what kind of balance was guaranteed to Athens
(taken as an exemplar archaic society, starting from its self-representation as
given by Sophocles in Oedipus the King) by the complementary rituals of
pharmakos and ostrakos; what equilibrium was offered to Christian medieval
social structures by the doctrine of the deadly sins; and, finally, we will take a look
at our own secularized society. Our aim is to apply René Girard’s theory
Contagion: Journal of Violence, Mimesis, and Culture, Vol. 20, No. 1, 2013, pp. 117–140. ISSN 1075-7201.
© 2013 Michigan State University Board of Trustees. All rights reserved. 117
This work originally appeared in Contagion, 20, Spring 2013, published by Michigan State University Press.